


Love Through Time and Space

by MrBacros



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:01:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25329718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrBacros/pseuds/MrBacros
Summary: Roxas spends the day with his daughter while Xion is sent on a very important mission.
Relationships: Axel & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Ienzo & Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas/Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Love Through Time and Space

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sweetcandy13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcandy13/gifts).



Roxas stood at the kitchen counter as he finished pouring a glass of orange juice, a content look on his face as he placed it on the plate in front of him, grabbing the plate with one hand and a second plate with his other. He walked over to the living area to where his daughter was sitting and patiently waiting for her breakfast. "Here you go, Kokoro." he said with a smile on his face as he placed the plate in front of her, seeing her light up at the sight of her favorite sugary cereal alongside some banana slices, a couple slices of buttered toast, and a glass of orange juice.

"Thank you, daddy!" she said as she looked up at him, to which he offered a gentle smile and nod. Next, he walked to the other side of the table where his wife sat. "And here you go, Xion." he said, giving her a plate containing some syrup-covered french toast, a blueberry muffin, and a cup of hot chocolate. He bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, putting a smile on her face.

"Thank you, Roxas." she said softly.

"You're welcome, Xion." he said, getting back up. "I'll be right back."

Roxas headed into the kitchen, returning a minute later with his own plate of breakfast before taking a seat in the chair at the end of the table between Xion and Kokoro.

As he enjoyed his breakfast, Roxas appreciated the peacefulness of the moment; the way the sun shined into the room from the window and reflected onto Xion's raven hair as she contentedly sipped from her hot chocolate, the way she'd occasionally glance over and smile at him, the way his five year old daughter eagerly ate her cereal while in her comfy little pajamas, seemingly not concerned with anything besides the sugary taste in her mouth, and simply the way he was able to spend quiet moments like this with his family. Getting to spend every morning like this was something he never grew tired of.

Roxas ate some of the eggs off his plate when he heard Xion suddenly speak up. "Oh, I just remembered, there's something important I need to bring up."

"What's that?" he asked, his voice somewhat muffled from the food in his mouth.

"Well," she started, pushing some hair behind her ear, "I'm going to be away on a mission today. Axel's going to be as well."

This was news to Roxas, usually he'd be told about these things more in advance. "Huh? When did this come up? And where are you going?" he asked curiously.

"Sorry I couldn't tell you sooner, I only got the news that it would be today last night, and you sort of went to sleep before I could tell you." she explained. "As for where I'm going..." she paused, looking over to her daughter and then back at Roxas, "...I'll tell you more about the mission in a little bit."

Roxas nodded, realizing that she didn't want to talk about it in front of Kokoro. "Well, alright. So, when are you leaving?"

She took a bite out of her muffin. "A little over an hour from now. That should be enough time for me to get ready."

"But mommy," Kokoro said with a slight pout, "I thought we were having dance lessons today! Are we not going anymore?"

Xion's eyes widened as she remembered her original plans for the day, feeling guilty for having to cancel something her daughter was so excited for. "I'm sorry sweetie, I really didn't know something else would come up today." she said, looking a little disappointed with herself, "But I promise we'll have them again sometime this week. Plus, to make up for it, maybe we can have a trip to another world this week?"

The disappointment on Kokoro's face washed right off as it was replaced with a look of excitement, "Okay, but you promised!" she exclaimed eagerly.

"Of course, and I promise we'll be able to spend the rest of the week together." Xion said, giving a reassuring smile.

Kokoro returned her smile and went back to eating her breakfast as Xion did the same, picking off the last pieces of her french toast.

Having finished the lovely breakfast her husband made for her, Xion stretched as she let out a satisfied yawn. Getting up from her chair, she noticed Roxas taking the last bite of his own breakfast. She walked over to where he sat and bent down to look at him, "I'll be in our room getting changed if you need me, alright?" she quietly told him, finishing by gently kissing his cheek. Seeing him nod in recognition, she headed upstairs into their room, expecting Roxas to not be far behind.

Xion changed into her old black and white dress that she had received from the three fairies years ago. It was a little tight these days, but its robust protection against most attacks and resistance to darkness made it ideal to wear during her missions. As she fastened her belt around her waist, she noticed Roxas opening the door and entering the room.

He sat down next to her on the bed. "So, about your mission..." he started.

"I wanted to tell you about it as soon as I got the chance." she said, placing her hand on top of his, "You know that device I've been helping Ienzo and Cid put together?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. What's that thing for, anyway?" he asked.

"Well, it has a few different purposes." she explained, "The first is to act as a distress beacon; when activated, it sends a signal out to the mainframes in Radiant Garden and Disney Castle. However, that's only needed if the secondary function is unavailable; when accessed by a Keyblade wielder, it can create a corridor leading to the Realm of Light. Finally, it comes with a self-defense mechanism that fires light projectiles at any Heartless that get too close."

"Wow, and you made something like that? That's amazing, Xion!" Roxas said in awe. He always admired how smart and talented she was and how much she knew how to do.

She smiled. "Actually, they did most of the work, I just helped out here and there."

"Still, that's pretty impressive." he said, smiling back. "But what do they need something like that for exactly?"

"Well, that brings me to where I'm going," she started, "The point of the mission is to take this device and set it up in the Realm of Darkness. Axel, Aqua, and His Majesty will be accompanying me."

"The Realm of Darkness?" Roxas said, clearly becoming concerned. He placed both of his hands on hers, "I'm going with you." he declared.

Xion frowned a little. "I'm sorry, Roxas, but the mission was already planned around just us four being on it." she said regretfully, "I appreciate you wanting to be there with me, but I can't really do anything about how the mission was assigned. Plus, I'd like you to be there for Kokoro while I'm gone—I don't want her to be getting worried about us both being gone for too long."

"I guess that's fair.." Roxas said reluctantly, "Just... promise you'll stay safe, alright?"

Xion nodded. "I promise. Besides, it's not like I'll be all by myself, right?"

"Right." he said, feeling a little reassured.

Xion smiled. "Oh, actually I have something I'd like to borrow from you, if that's okay."

"Hm? What would that be?"

"Could I... borrow one of your Keyblades while I'm on the mission?" she asked him.

"Of course you can, Xion." he said with a small grin; he always loved sharing stuff with her. He summoned both of his Keyblades and held them up slightly, "Which one would you like?"

She reached over for the one that reminded her most of him, placing her hand on the handle where his hand sat. "I'd like to bring along this one." she requested, holding his Oathkeeper.

"Sure thing," he said as he unattached the wayfinder-shaped token and placed it in her hand, his Keyblade reverting to its original Kingdom Key form. Xion unattached her own Keyblade's token and replaced it with the Oathkeeper's, watching as her Keyblade transformed in a flash of light into the familiar sight of one of Roxas's signature Keyblades.

She adjusted her grip on the handle and swung it around a little, feeling instantly comfortable with her usage of his Keyblade. "Thank you Roxas, I'll feel a lot better using this." she said as she smiled at him before dismissing her Keyblade.

"That's good to hear." he said, feeling satisfied. "Is there anything else you need before you're ready?"

She gently shook her head. "Nope, I think I'll be set now. I already have the device ready to bring along, so I can just relax until it's time to go."

"Wait, you have the device ready here in the house?" he asked, a little confused.

"Well, yes... Oh, I suppose you've only seen it when it's all set up." she realized, "Here, let me show you where it's at." She walked over to a satchel that laid in the corner of the room and opened it, shifting through various potions and elixirs that she planned to bring on her mission, until she took out a white cube, not much larger in size than a watermelon.

When Xion showed it to him, Roxas blinked twice before realizing what he was looking at. "Wait, _that's_ the device? Since when did they make it so small?"

Xion giggled a little at his confusion. "This is just the compacted version, what you saw was the fully set up version." she explained, rotating the cube to show him the side that contained a keypad. "All I have to do to set it up is enter a code on this keypad, place it down on the ground, and it will automatically start expanding itself until it's fully operational. Neat, huh?"

"That is really neat, Xion. You never fail to amaze me with all the things you're capable of." he said sincerely.

She blushed a little, but was still unable to contain her smile. "Like I said, Ienzo and Cid did most of the work. I really just assisted with little things here and there... but it still means a lot to me to hear you say that. Thank you, Roxas." She leaned down to where he sat on the bed and reached in to gently press her lips against his, caressing his cheek as she did so. Roxas kissed her back and pulled her closer before releasing his lips, looking her in the eyes while sharing his smile with her. Xion gave him back a smile just as bright—she loved his smile so much, it would always be one of the most wonderful sights to her.

She stood back up, offering him her hand for him to do the same. Taking her hand and getting up from the bed, he followed her downstairs into the living room where little Kokoro sat on the couch watching television. He walked over and sat next to her, with Xion taking her seat to his other side.

Kokoro looked up at him eagerly, "Hey daddy, you're just in time to watch Kids' Masterpiece Theater with me! Look, it's starting now!" she said, directing her attention to the television screen.

Xion settled herself next to Roxas, laying her legs on the couch and clinging onto his arm with both of hers as she snuggled her head onto his shoulder, feeling satisfied when he placed his hand on her head and began gently stroking her hair. She let out a contented sigh—the moments of free time just before having to get to work were always the comfiest. Certainly, she'd much rather be at home peacefully relaxing with her husband and daughter than venturing through the cold and dangerous depths of the Realm of Darkness for who knows how long, but at the end of the day, it was her purpose to do whatever she could to keep the worlds safe and prevent as much suffering as possible. Still, she planned to enjoy every second of the relaxation time she had left.

She continued resting against Roxas's side, almost dozing off a few times, but being brought back by the sound of laughter—apparently Roxas and Kokoro were having a good time watching their show. She'd probably be laughing too if she was paying any attention rather than trying to use Roxas as a pillow to fall asleep onto... she still had some waking up to do.

Suddenly, Xion opened her eyes as she heard the front door opening and raised her head from the couch to see who it was, seeing a tall red-haired figure walking in and closing the door behind him. "Axel?" she asked, a little surprised as she rubbed her eyes. "Wait, when are we supposed to get going? Is it almost time?" Had it really already been an hour?

"Yup, another ten or so minutes and we need to be on our way." he pointed out before suddenly letting out a chuckle. "Say, Xion, I can't help but notice your hair's a little messy... you have been getting ready instead of snoozing this whole time, right?"

"Well, I—"

Roxas interrupted her, "She's definitely been snoozing judging by the way she's had her head rested on my shoulder for the past thirty minutes." he said with a smirk. Kokoro looked over and began to giggle.

Xion's face started to turn red. "R-Roxas!"

"Not that I'm complaining. After all, you've been ready for a while, and the way you looked while you were sleeping on my shoulder was really adorable." he teased before placing a kiss on her cheek, causing her face to redden even further. She forgot it was still possible for Roxas to make her blush so hard like that.

"W-well, anyways," she tried to interrupt Axel's laughter, "I have everything ready, I'm just a little tired still, that's all."

"Sure, just be sure to get woken up. Today's not a good day for sleeping on the job, if you catch my drift." Axel said, more serious in his tone.

"Right... Well, I need to go get something. I'll be right back." she said, turning to head upstairs.

Axel sat down on the couch next to Roxas. Roxas turned to him, "Hey, Axel? Is there no way for me to go with you and Xion today?"

Axel looked at Roxas, a bit taken back by his question. "Huh? Well... no. But I assume Xion already told you that." Seeing the disappointed look on Roxas's face, he continued, "But don't stress out about it, you know that I'll take good care of her. Right, Roxas?"

"Yeah... I guess that's right." Roxas said, his expression brightening a little.

Axel smiled. Before he could say anything further, Kokoro looked over at him, a curious look on her face. "Uncle Axel, where are you and mommy going today? Is it another world? Can I go too?"

He looked at her, not quite sure what to say. "Err, well, we're kind of going to another world, but—"

Kokoro cut him off, "Can you please take me with you? I wanna go too!" she said excitedly. Ever since her parents took her to the beaches of Destiny Islands and explained to her about the many different worlds out there and the differences between them, she'd always get very excited about the prospects of getting to go to another world.

One thing Axel knew for sure is that the Realm of Darkness is the very last place he, and especially Roxas and Xion, would want little Kokoro to be at. "Sorry little lady, but you wouldn't like it where we're going. It's all dark and cold and empty, you wouldn't have much fun if you came along with us. Plus, I hear your father has something fun planned for you today." he said, looking at Roxas.

Roxas looked over to see Kokoro looking up at him eagerly. "Daddy, what are we going to do today? I wanna know!" she said to him.

"Oh, uh..." Roxas hadn't actually planned anything, but he was grateful to Axel for changing the subject. "It's a surprise! You'll see later, I'm sure you'll enjoy what I have planned for you." he told her as he ruffled his hand through her cute black hair—the same color and texture as Xion's. She giggled, putting a smile on Roxas's face.

Just then, Xion returned downstairs with her satchel and walked over to put on her boots. She walked over to the couch, "Okay, looks like I'm all ready to go now. Are you ready, Axel?"

"Been ready for a while now." he said as he stood up.

Xion nodded before looking over to her husband and daughter. "I guess we're leaving now. We'll be back later today, okay?"

Roxas got off of the couch and took a few steps towards Xion, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Remember to stay safe." he said, his concern for her clearly showing.

"I will." she promised, gently wrapping him an embrace as she rested her head on his shoulder, prompting him to hug her back. Kokoro ran over and hugged her mother's leg.

Pulling back from the hug, Roxas looked his wife in the eyes. "Well... I'll see you later, Xion. I love you."

"I love you too, Roxas." she said before somewhat reluctantly starting to walk to the door with Axel.

"Bye mommy, bye uncle Axel!" Kokoro yelled out, smiling when she saw her mother look back and give a little wave. Xion and Axel walked outside the house and closed the door behind them, and just like that, they were gone.

As Roxas was left alone with his daughter, he contemplated what to do next. Preferably he would do something special for her going by what he said earlier, but what would that be...? He could take her out for ice cream if it wasn't still so early, he could take her to the beach, and while that would be fun, he was looking for something a little more special... plus, she'd probably fall asleep on the train ride. Thinking back to her earlier enthusiasm about a trip to another world, he began to think about worlds he could bring her to...

Destiny Islands would be a good choice, but she'd already been there, and he imagined she wanted to go somewhere else besides just there and Twilight Town. Neverland? Well, exploring the island with her would be a good time, and it would certainly be a magical experience if she could get to feel what it's like to fly for the first time... at the same time, it wasn't exactly the safest place to take her with the pirates and whatnot. Disney Town would be loads of fun, but he kind of wanted to go there with Xion too... Agrabah? Well, the stargazing would be wonderful if he took her at night, but he couldn't think of much else to do there with her. Radiant Garden? Well, it was always bright and pretty and super safe and there were a lot of fun things to do there with her, but... he actually couldn't think of any downsides to going there. It was decided! They would go to Radiant Garden together.

"So daddy," Kokoro started while looking up at him, "When are we gonna do something? You've just been standing there for a while."

"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about what we were going to do today..." he said, starting to smile, "Luckily, I think I just figured out something."

She looked at him curiously, "Really? What are we gonna do?"

He bent down to look at her eye to eye, "I was thinking about something you've been really excited about, and I came up with the idea for the two of us to have a little trip to another world. How's that sound?" he suggested to her with a grin.

"Really!?" Her face lit up as she smiled brightly. "Yay!!" she bursted out as she happily bounced up and down. Roxas watched on in amusement as Kokoro let out all her excitement, bouncing and running circles around him while giggling uncontrollably. She eventually settled down a little, albeit with the excitement still clearly visible on her face. "I can't wait!" she exclaimed, "When are we going, daddy?"

"How about..." he started as he put a hand on her shoulder, "As soon as you get all dressed and ready. Then we can get going, okay?"

She nodded happily. "Okay!" she agreed before running upstairs to her room.

Kokoro returned downstairs a minute later, putting on her shoes and then running up to her father and looking up to him with her hands behind her back. Roxas looked down to see she had changed into her bright pink dress, smiling as he saw she was even wearing her cute little bow.

"Okay, I'm ready!" she confirmed to him.

Roxas leaned down to pick her up, holding her up to his shoulders as she held onto him with her hands wrapped around his neck, looking him in the eyes with a big smile on her face. He returned her gaze, looking into her eyes—as bright blue as the afternoon sky, just like his own eyes. As he held his precious little girl in his arm, he made his way over to the vacant room of the house; completely empty besides a rug that had been torn up in the center from frequently having corridors of light created onto it.

"Now, Kokoro, I need you to close your eyes. I'll tell you when to open, alright?" he asked of her. She nodded and closed her eyes, excited for whatever he was about to show her. Roxas summoned Oblivion into his right hand and pointed it towards the center of the room, focusing his energy onto his Keyblade as light began to build up and shine at its tip, until finally a beam of light shot out from the Keyblade's tip onto the floor, creating a corridor of light which erupted open. Roxas dismissed his Keyblade and walked through the corridor.

"Daddy, can I open my eyes yet?" Kokoro asked her father, "It's been really hard to keep them closed with all those noises. What were those sounds from anyways?"

"Oh those were just the sounds of..." Roxas started as he reached the end of the corridor, appearing out the other end into the bright central square of Radiant Garden. "...me taking you to another world. You can open your eyes now, sweetie."

She shot her eyes open, looking around and taking in all the sights of this new world; the white puffy clouds and bright blue sky which were almost completely foreign to her having only lived in Twilight Town for her entire life, all the pretty flowers and lush greenery decorating the sides of the stone roads, and even a big castle looming over the rest of the town. "Wow...!" she exclaimed, her voice full of amazement. "This world is so pretty!"

Her awed reaction reinforced Roxas's feeling that taking her here was the best thing for them to do together that day... His only regret was that Xion couldn't be here to see how happy their little girl was at the moment. He gently set her down on the ground, allowing her to explore her new surroundings freely, smiling contentedly as she ran over to play in one of the patches of flowers in the square. He walked over and sat next to the flower patch as Kokoro ran up to him with a handful of sunflowers.

"Look daddy, I picked you some pretty yellow flowers!" she said enthusiastically, reaching over and stepping on her tippy-toes to place one of her flowers on his ear, then pulled back and offered him her hand to give him the rest of her flowers. Roxas accepted her little gift, gently transferring the flowers from her hand to his.

"Aww, that was very sweet of you, Kokoro. Thank you." he told her before reaching over to give her a kiss on the cheek, getting a little giggle out of her. "Here, I think you should have one too." He took one of the sunflowers and set it on her ear, just as she had done for him, smiling at how nicely the bright yellow flower looked in her black hair. Lastly, he took his hand and wiped off some dirt she had gotten on her dress while messing around in the flower patch.

"I wish mommy was here so I could give her some flowers too." Kokoro pointed out.

"I do too... Before we leave today, we should take some flowers and bring them back with us to give to her when she returns home, I'm sure she'd like that a lot." he suggested.

"Yeah!" she happily nodded her head, satisfied with his suggestion. She turned her attention to the looming castle up the hill in the center of town, "Daddy, can we go up that big hill? I wanna see the castle!" she asked him as she ran towards the stairs that led up to the top of the hill.

"Of course," he nodded, "Want me to carry you up there?" he offered.

Kokoro politely shook her head. "No thanks, I can run up there myself!" she declared and, true to her word, began running up the flight of stairs with seemingly limitless energy. Roxas let out an amused chuckle as he followed her up the stairs, reaching the top after she did to find she was quite out of breath, although the look in her eyes told him she'd do it all again if she got the chance. If nothing else, he figured, it was pretty good exercise for her.

He gently grabbed his daughter's hand—so small and soft—and walked her over to the castle's front doors where Aeleus stood at his post.

"Hello, Roxas. I take it you have business here today?" Aeleus asked him.

"Mhm, though it's more like the two of us have business here," he replied, "Little Kokoro wanted to check out the castle—it's her first time visiting this world."

Aeleus nodded. "You may enter." he stated as he moved to the side, holding his hand out, motioning them to enter. Not like they really needed permission to enter anyways, seeing as he and Xion had both been allowed to freely enter and move about the castle at will.

Roxas led his daughter into the castle, when she suddenly took off running down the hall—apparently all the excitement overtook her a little. "K-Kokoro, wait!" Roxas yelled out as she turned a corner before he took off after her. When he caught up to her, she was in a comfortable looking room containing a couple sofas, a big television screen, and a counter containing various snacks; fitting for an area serving as the apprentices' break room. Also on the counter was a big ice cream dispenser, and below the ice cream machine was Kokoro jumping up, desperately trying to reach it.

She turned her head and noticed Roxas standing next to her. "Daddy, I can't reach the ice cream machine!" she whined, "Can you pick me up please?"

He put his hand in his hair, "Well... alright, just promise that you won't run off like that, okay?"

She nodded her head. "I promise!" Satisfied with her answer, Roxas bent down to carry her with both of his arms and brought her up to his chest so that she could reach the ice cream cones and buttons on the dispenser.

"What flavor do you want, sweetie?" he asked her.

"Um..." she placed a finger on her lips as she looked at the available flavors, "I want sea-salt ice cream!" she requested, quickly going to her favorite taste of ice cream.

"That's a good choice." he said, sharing a smile with her. "I think I'll have some too."

Roxas took his spare arm and picked up an ice cream cone which he then placed under the sea-salt dispenser, with Kokoro assisting him by pressing down the button to swirl the ice cream into the cone until it was all filled up.

She took the cone and licked the top of her blue swirly ice cream, smiling at its salty-sweet taste. "Yummy!" she said with a satisfied tone in her voice. Roxas gently set her on the ground to enjoy her ice cream as he filled up a cone for himself. He took his ice cream in one hand and her hand in another as he led her out of the break room and back into the halls of the castle. They walked down the halls and ate their ice cream together, occasionally stopping to enjoy some of the trinkets and artifacts of Radiant Garden that were up for display. Continuing their way around the castle, Roxas was met with a familiar figure; a man about the same age as him with steel-blue hair and a long lab coat.

"Oh, hello Roxas. It is a pleasure seeing you today." the man said, "I see you've brought your daughter with you. May I ask what the occasion is? Have you brought her to check that there have been no problems with her health? Or perhaps to see how her heart has been developing? Or maybe you've been considering her for an apprenticeship? After all, I was just her age when I—"

"Oh no, it's nothing like that," Roxas quickly interrupted, "We're just here on a little vacation, and she wanted to explore the castle. She's really excited about being in this world for the first time." he explained.

"Ah, then perhaps I could give her a tour around the place? As long as I'm with you, we'll be able to access any point in the castle unrestricted."

Roxas nodded. "That would be nice. Thank you."

Kokoro looked up at her father, "Daddy? Who is that man you're talking to?" she asked.

"I don't believe I've introduced myself; my name is Ienzo. I'm friends with your parents, and I work here at the castle. It's nice to see you, Kokoro." Ienzo introduced himself, although he had met with her on prior occasions; sometimes attending to her birthday parties, other times visiting to conduct research on her heart as she slept—there was still much to be learned about the inner workings of a young and developing heart, especially the heart of a child born from two Keyblade wielders. 

"Oh, hello, Mr. Ienzo," Kokoro said a little shyly. She was always a bit quiet around people she didn't know very well.

Ienzo gave her a little wave and showed them the way to a nearby elevator, upon which he pressed a button to call the elevator to their floor. As they waited for the elevator to arrive, Roxas and Kokoro continued taking bites out of their ice cream. Roxas thought about Xion and hoped for her safety.

"So from this elevator, we can reach several points in the castle," Ienzo explained, "There's Master Ansem's observatory, the living quarters, the viewing deck, the library and archive, the lower laboratories, and the waterway. Those are simply where the elevator stops are located, other areas can be accessed from those points."

Roxas gave a nod. "Right, I think we should go to the observatory first. I'm sure Kokoro would really enjoy it up there." he suggested. Just then, the elevator dinged and opened its doors, signalling them to enter it. They rode the elevator up until it reached the top floor and opened its doors to the observatory.

Kokoro ran right into the observatory room and looked around in amazement, "Wow...!" she exclaimed, taking in the massive telescope in the room's center, as well as the dark blue dome ceiling which was covered in various constellations. She walked up the little steps leading to the telescope's platform and got up on its seat. "Mr. Ienzo, can I look through the telescope?" she asked politely. This telescope was certainly a lot larger than the one Isa would sometimes let her look through.

"Certainly," Ienzo responded, "I'd be more than happy to show you how to use it." He walked over to the telescope's platform and opened a book that sat on the table next to the telescope. "This book contains information regarding most of the worlds known to us, along with respective coordinates that can be inputted into the telescope to direct its view to that world." he explained.

Kokoro looked at him, visibly confused. "Co..ord..inates?" she asked, not knowing what that word meant yet.

"Oh, right," Ienzo realized it'd be a good idea to use a little simpler language when addressing a five year old, "See these numbers marked 'x', 'y', and 'z'? Those are the coordinates; they show where a world is located, and when you enter these into that little screen there, the telescope will point at the world associated with the coordinates. Why don't you give it a try?"

"Um..." Kokoro found all of this to be very confusing. "I'll try, but I'm not sure I really get it..." she said, not terribly confident in her understanding of what to do. She took the book and looked at the number next to the x, then inputted the number she read onto the screen in the field also labeled "x". She repeated this for y and z, and then pressed the big "SUBMIT" button that appeared when she finished filling out the three fields. Suddenly, the dome of the observatory along with the telescope platform began to rotate slowly before stopping in place.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked with a worried look on her face, concerned about the sudden rotating that had just occurred.

"No, in fact, you did exactly what you were supposed to do." Ienzo reassured her, "Now when you look in the telescope, you should be able to see the world of the coordinates you entered."

She excitedly got up in her seat and looked into the telescope, letting out a little gasp when she did so. "Daddy, come look! I found a new world!" she exclaimed. Roxas walked over and looked into the telescope, instantly recognizing the world he saw before him.

"Actually, the world you're looking at is Twilight Town, or rather, it's our world." Roxas told her, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Wow, really!?" She took another look into the telescope, zooming in and out as she observed her homeworld which sat out in the openness of space. "This is so cool!" she said, almost squealing out of excitement.

Roxas smiled contentedly at his daughter's happiness—she was certainly making him feel less stressed out about Xion being so far away in the Realm of Darkness. "Want to take a look at some other worlds?" he offered her. She nodded her head eagerly as her father turned the page on the book to find another world they could look at.

They continued looking at various worlds and astronomical objects for a while, making various observations as they did so. Kokoro's excitement never died down, and she frequently asked a variety of questions about the worlds, as well as when she'd be able to visit them. Roxas and Ienzo answered her questions to the best of their abilities, fascinating her even further. Ienzo also showed her a list of all the constellations she could find in the night sky... although that wasn't particularly useful given that she was never able to actually see the night sky in Twilight Town.

Roxas eventually managed to convince her to check out the rest of the castle, although she'd have been content to sit in the observatory for hours on end.

Kokoro looked up at her father as she walked back to the elevator, "Where are we going next, daddy?" she asked.

"That's up to you, sweetie," he told her, "But the library and viewing deck seem like fun options if you'd like to check them out."

"Ooh, let's go to the library!" she suggested, "I bet they have lots of colorful picture books we can read like the ones Mrs. Naminé makes!"

"Actually, the library doesn't have any picture books." Ienzo informed her, "The contents of the library are mostly made up of various reports, studies, and reference material." Noticing the slightly disappointed look on the little raven-haired girl's face, he continued, "However, the library is connected to the castle's archive which holds various artifacts and relics of Radiant Garden on display, if that is of interest." Kokoro seemed a little more interested in that.

"That sounds neat too," she remarked.

After riding down the elevator and walking through the library, they found themselves at the archive; just as described, it was a fairly large room with plenty of items on display in glass cases. The first thing that caught Roxas's attention was a row of displays containing model replicas of familiar looking weaponry; a pair of arrowguns, a big and heavy looking axe sword, and even Axel's chakrams were some of the items on display. Next to the displays were signs which detailed the items' functionality, use, and history. According to the signs, this was the "Weapons of Radiant Garden" section.

Roxas's eyes widened as he saw the display at the end of the row; there sat a model replica of a Keyblade, or more specifically, the Kingdom Key—Xion's signature Keyblade. As he looked at it, he couldn't stop thinking about Xion. Even though it had only been no more than a couple hours since she left, he couldn't help but get worried about her. Deep down he knew she would be fine given how incredibly powerful she was, plus the fact that she wasn't alone, but still knowing that she was in the most dangerous place she could possibly be at didn't ease his concerns any. Even then, it wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't at least check to make sure she was safe since the Gummiphone couldn't reach the Realm of Darkness...

His line of thought was interrupted by a sudden tugging on his hand, "Daddy? Daddy!" Kokoro called out to get his attention. When he looked down at her, she continued, "That thing you were staring at... what's it called again? Don't you and mommy have one of those? What's it doing here? Can I have one too?"

Roxas was a little taken back by all the questions she asked all at once, although her asking him an abundance of questions was hardly unusual. Apparently all that curiosity came with being a kid... Roxas would sort of know about that, given how many questions he'd make Axel answer for him every day when he was younger. 

As for her questions, "Oh sorry, I just got a little distracted by that model on display. Yes, we do have Keyblades like that one, although this one is just a model of an actual Keyblade that's up for display. As for if you can have one..." Roxas already knew the answer to that question given that the Keyblade's power had rested within her ever since her birth, although when that power would awaken itself remained unknown. Not that he wanted that to happen any time soon; all he wanted was for his little girl to live a happy, normal childhood without having the Keyblade to get in the way of that. "...Well, maybe one day when you're older. After all, don't you think it's a little too big for you to carry?"

"I can handle it!" she declared confidently.

Roxas chuckled, knowing that she most likely couldn't. "Well... if you say so." he said with an amused tone in his voice before kneeling down and summoning his Kingdom Key (formerly his Oathkeeper) to hand it over for her to take. She grabbed the handle with both of her little hands as he released his, quickly finding out that the Keyblade was too heavy for her. She let out a little grunt as she tried tightening her grip onto it, but was unable to keep it from falling over onto the ground.

"Daddy, it's too heavy!" she pouted.

"That's what I was trying to tell you." Roxas pointed out with a smirk on his face. "Like I said, maybe when you're older you can have one. For now, you're not going to be able to hold it when it's as big as you are."

"Aww... okay..." she resigned. Not being brought down by her current lack of upper body strength, she went to find something else that she could snoop around in, as usual. She settled on a big cannon that sat nearby and began excitedly climbing into it to look around inside, but was soon pulled out by her father. Apparently she'd get too dusty in there.

Moving on, they checked out some other artifacts on display before coming across some shiny purple rocks, almost crystal-like in nature. Roxas hadn't seen anything quite like them before, piquing his curiosity. "Hey Ienzo, where do these rocks come from?" he asked.

"Those would be samples from the Cavern of Remembrance; the sealed off cave beneath the castle. Aeleus takes an interest in these things—collecting these artifacts is a side project of his." Ienzo replied. Roxas found that pretty interesting.

They continued looking around the archive, stopping to appreciate the various items on display, from Gummi blocks to pictures showing the history of Radiant Garden to a variety of synthesis materials Roxas had dealt with in the past. One material he took particular interest in was a shiny Twilight Crystal, its essence reminding him of the diamond he had obtained for Xion's wedding ring. He smiled at that. They took a look at a few other objects before deciding to head back to the elevator and move on to the rest of the castle.

Their next destination was the viewing deck up near the top of the castle. The deck wrapped around the castle, giving a fantastic view of the entire city. Kokoro took in the view in complete wonder, still blown away by how different and unique everything was in this world. Roxas smiled upon noticing her amazed expression and knelt down next to her, "Having a good time, sweetie?" he asked her, gently placing a hand in her hair, being careful not to mess with the bow she was wearing.

"Mhm!" she happily nodded. "Let's go explore the rest of the town after this!"

"Good idea," he told her before standing back up. Resting his arms on the guard rail, he let out a sigh. This was such a nice moment... if only Xion were here to enjoy it with him... But for now, all he could do was believe in her and hope she was staying safe.

\--------------

Xion hurled the Oathkeeper straight into a nearby Neoshadow, striking it and evaporating it back into darkness. After vanquishing one target she lunged at the next, sending a pillar of light its way before slaying it with a flurry of Keyblade strikes. Noticing an Invisible charging towards her, she raised a Reflega—the Heartless being stopped in its tracks by her hexagonal barrier of light, and then being punished by the ensuing light explosions. With the Heartless staggered, she jumped up and charged her Keyblade into its chest, sparks of light flying outwards upon impact. It tried to make one last retaliation but was blocked by her Keyblade, upon which it was overtaken by a sudden burst of light, spelling its end. With that, the last of the horde of Heartless that had ambushed them had been dealt with.

Once she landed back on the ground, Xion took a moment to catch her breath. The Heartless here in the Realm of Darkness were a lot more formidable, not to mention a lot more numerous than the ones she'd fought elsewhere—that had to have been over a hundred Heartless they had just faced. It certainly made things more difficult, but it was nothing she couldn't handle, especially with friends by her side. 

Plus, there was something about using Roxas's Oathkeeper... as she used it, she felt so much warmer and safer, like he was fighting there with her—protecting her. Strange considering it wasn't even his Keyblade proper—it was just the token that he attached to his keychain. Not that she could complain.

"Is everyone alright?" King Mickey called out, dismissing his Keyblade. He was met with nods and approvals; nobody had gotten hurt, everyone was just a bit worn out.

Xion noticed Aqua walking over to Axel with a bit of an annoyed look on her face. "Lea, weren't you supposed to be making sure we stayed out of the way of the Heartless?"

"Wha- Hey, it's not like I could've seen those ones coming; they just came out of nowhere!" Axel responded defensively, "Or more fittingly; they came from everywhere: from below, above, all around us... either way, I can't scout out something that just suddenly appears like that."

"Axel's right," Xion interjected, "If we can't see them coming then we'll just have to figure out how to deal with them when we have to." That being said, Xion really hoped they wouldn't have many more encounters seeing as how she wanted to get this mission wrapped up as soon as possible so she could go home to Roxas and let him know that everything turned out alright. Then she could enjoy some of his delicious homemade dinner, maybe go out for some ice cream, and then cuddle up with him in bed at the end of the day. Yeah... that'd be nice.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Axel's voice, "See, Xion gets it!" he exclaimed as he put a hand down on her shoulder.

Aqua considered Xion's point for a moment, "If it can't be avoided, then I say we take out any small groups that might appear and try to evade the larger groups. We can't afford to get worn down fighting when we don't have to."

Xion nodded. She wouldn't want to keep Roxas waiting for too long, after all. Actually, she knew time flowed differently in the Realm of Darkness—or rather, that it didn't really flow at all, but didn't know to what extent that worked... "Hey Aqua, about the flow of time here..." she began, "When we spend an hour here, how much time passes everywhere else?"

"Hmm..." Aqua considered a way to answer that question, "There's not a clear way to measure how much time passes here compared to elsewhere. From what we know, the time difference between the two realms is chaotic—an hour here could be thirty minutes in the outside Realms... or it could be eight hours. Either way, we shouldn't be lingering around here. Let's get a move on." she said with a serious tone before continuing walking forward.

Xion's expression worsened as she thought about it—they'd already been here for at least an hour, and they still had a ways to go until they reached their destination. For all she knew, it could've been more than eight hours where Roxas was at—possibly up to thirteen or fourteen hours, or even longer than that... She imagined how worried and stressed out Roxas would be getting over her... She couldn't let that happen all because she wasted too much time here. 

She quickened her pace, determined to make it back home as soon as she could.

\--------------

Roxas walked down the castle halls with his daughter in his arms as he made his way back to the castle entrance. He could tell she had a lot of fun in the castle, but it was about time to check out what else the world had to offer as she had suggested. There was still a lot left to see in the castle, so he'd have to come back here with her—and Xion, of course.

As he walked out the castle doors, he turned to Ienzo, "Thanks for showing her around today. She had a really good time." he said with a smile.

"Of course, it is my pleasure." Ienzo replied, "Feel free to come back anytime. Oh, and since she expressed interest in living in a castle, perhaps you'd like to consider her for an apprenticeship? It woul—"

"We're good," Roxas cut him off, "Besides, she wouldn't have time for that seeing as how she's starting her first day of school in a few weeks. Plus, isn't she a little young for that, being only five years old and all?"

"As I said earlier, I was around that age when Master Ansem took me under his wing, although those were very specific circumstances... But I understand, it's probably best for her to consider it when she's older." he admitted, "At the end of the day, it's up to you as her parent to support her with wherever her dreams may lead her."

Roxas nodded with a smile. "Right." He'd do anything possible to make sure his little girl could always pursue what made her happiest.

Before they moved on, Roxas thought of something as he looked at Kokoro, "Sweetie, isn't there something you'd like to say to Mr. Ienzo?"

"Oh!" she realized, "Thank you for letting me explore the castle, Mr. Ienzo!" she told him before reaching over and giving him a hug from where she was being held in Roxas's arms. Apparently she'd warmed up to him pretty quickly.

The sudden hug surprised Ienzo—it wasn't often he received displays of affection like this, much less from a child. He smiled as he lightly hugged her back before she let go and settled herself back into Roxas's arms.

Roxas and Kokoro gave Ienzo a wave goodbye and started to make their way back down to the central square. Roxas thought back to the hug his daughter gave to Ienzo and smiled. She was always so sweet and quick to make others happy, just like her mother. He continued walking down the steps to the square when he noticed her stomach grumbling; come to think of it, he was getting pretty hungry himself. Looks like they'd have to find themselves some lunch.

Upon reaching the central square, Roxas set Kokoro down and took her hand to take her on a stroll to the marketplace. They passed through the gardens and enjoyed the warm Spring air as they took in the sights of the many flowers, trimmed bushes, and cherry blossoms that were scattered around, the beauty of which were magnified by the lighting that the evening sky provided. Roxas looked up at the sky, noticing the clouds starting to turn a pinkish-orange as the sun began to set. Given that they had left for Radiant Garden when it was morning in Twilight Town, it seemed this world ran a good few hours ahead of their own.

As they arrived at the quiet marketplace, Roxas looked around for somewhere they could pick up some food, eventually settling on a charming little sandwich shop. He opened the door, sounding a jingle, and walked inside over to the counter where he considered the options on the menu before deciding on a couple club sandwiches sliced into quarters for him and his daughter. He also made sure to get her a water to make sure she stayed nice and hydrated. Receiving his order in a timely manner, he payed for the meal and thanked the young lady at the counter before taking the paper bag containing the sandwiches and heading back out into the marketplace.

He looked around to check for anything else of interest in the area before becoming fixated on a nearby skateboard rental stand as he came up with the idea to show off some cool skateboard tricks to Kokoro as she ate her lunch. He deposited some munny into the stand, unlocking one of the skateboards which he then hopped on and took as his ride.

Kokoro sat on a set of stairs and happily ate her sandwiches while watching her father goof off on his skateboard, clapping and giving him a cheer whenever he'd pull off a trick for her. She was really impressed by the way he'd grind off the little stone walls surrounding the lower area and then do a mid-air spin before making a solid landing on the ground, it made her wonder if she could ride like that one day. She noticed he would constantly look over to her to see her reactions, rather than looking at where he was actually going.

He tried to pull off a method grab after jumping off one of the walls, but wasn't paying enough attention and botched the trick, causing the skateboard to escape him as he lost his balance and fell onto the ground, scraping his arms and legs against the stone bricks. Ouch... That'd show him for trying harder to show off than to actually pull off his tricks.

Kokoro hopped off the stairs and ran towards her father who laid on his side on the ground. "Daddy!" she yelled out, "Are you okay?"

"Ugh..." Roxas winced in pain as he sat up, "Yeah... If there's a lesson to be had from this, it's that you should always pay attention to what you're doing... especially while skating."

She was pretty worried by how bruised up he was; all those scrapes and cuts he got looked really unpleasant. She thought about what her parents would always say to her when she'd get a bruise or a cut... and when they said that word, she'd feel better right afterwards as her injury magically went away. Barely thinking about it, she repeated that word while focused on the sight of the nearby flowers;

"Heal!" Kokoro yelled out, when suddenly a sparkly green aura glowed from her father as he was briefly surrounded by what appeared to be an assortment of floating vines, flowers, and petals. It all happened so fast, but she could notice his scrapes and cuts mending themselves until they completely went away. She wondered... did she... did she do that?

It took Roxas a few seconds to process what just happened, but once it set in, he let out a gasp as his eyes shot wide open.

"Kokoro, you just... used magic!?" he said, almost in disbelief.

"I... I did?" she replied, not really sure what she just did herself. Her heart began to beat faster as she became fixated at her father's unreadable face. She started becoming worried that she might have done a bad thing, or something she wasn't supposed to do, until he suddenly wrapped her in a big hug.

"Kokoro... I'm so proud of you..." Roxas told his daughter, the sincerity of his statement apparent in his voice. The way he felt right now... it was the same way he felt when he heard her speak her first words, and when he saw her take her first steps. If only Xion could be here to experience this with him...

Kokoro smiled brightly at her father's praise and hugged him back, resting her head on his chest as he gently stroked his hand down the back of her hair.

They eventually pulled out of the hug and stood back up, smiles on both of their faces. "I can't wait to tell mommy about this!" she said excitedly. Roxas nodded, feeling much the same way. He just wished she could've seen it for herself... until he remembered he had set his Gummiphone on the stairs to record himself messing around on the skateboard. When he reached he stairs, he picked up his Gummiphone and stopped the recording—he was really glad to have captured that moment, even if it also captured him looking like an idiot and failing his skateboard stunt.

He sat down on the stairs and contentedly ate his sandwiches with Kokoro. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure how she actually casted Cure in the first place considering neither he nor Xion had ever taught her about magic before. His best guess is that she ended up casting it accidentally; that would make sense given that to cast Cure magic, one must invoke the imagery of flowers while hoping for the well being of someone they care about. But whether it was an accident or not, it didn't make him any less proud of her. If anything, it was more impressive to him that she pulled it off without knowing anything about using magic in the first place.

After finishing their lunch, the two got up from the stairs and walked around the marketplace until Kokoro expressed interest in one of the small little shops set up nearby. Roxas followed her inside and grabbed a shopping bag, willing to buy anything for her that her heart desired.

"Anything catch your eye?" he asked her.

"Hmm..." she looked around, "Ooh!" she ran over to a clothes rack and picked out a small dark blue skirt covered in a pattern of tiny white twinkly dots, similar in appearance to the night sky. She presented it to her father, "I want this one! It is the only one just for me!"

Roxas nodded as he took the skirt and put it into his bag and followed her as she searched out items of interest. Among what she picked out included a light-up globe of the world of Radiant Garden, a wallpaper depicting a bright blue sky with a pattern of white clouds, a wooden doll with a blue cap and cape, a poster showing various constellations in the night sky, some picture books about fairy tales from Radiant Garden, and a big colorful stuffed animal—or rather, what appeared to be a big stuffed Dream Eater resembling a "Tama Sheep" as he recognized it. A common theme with what she picked out was that none of it would be likely to be found in Twilight Town.

Once she was content with what she'd picked out, Roxas, now carrying two bags, went to pay for the items before heading out back into the marketplace. When he walked outside, he noticed it had gotten a fair bit darker out; the sky was now a dark shade of blue and the stars were starting to come out as the sun sunk below the horizon, the shade of pink it provided to the sky slowly diminishing.

Roxas figured it was probably about time to head back home, but before he did, there was one last place he wanted to stop by; a boat rental shop located at the docks of the city. Axel had brought him and Xion there years back when he first showed them around his homeworld and took them both for a boat ride around the lake that surrounded the city. Once they rode out into the lake, Axel revealed three fishing poles before explaining to them the wonders of fishing. Roxas found his explanation interesting, and on paper the idea of seeing all the different things that could be reeled out of the water sounded fun, but in practice he didn't find all the sitting around and waiting that interesting. Axel and Xion seemed to be pretty into it though, and there was a lot to talk and ask about, so he still had fun.

However, he wasn't planning on taking his little girl on a fishing trip... well, not yet at least, rather, he was just in the mood to go for a peaceful little boat ride. They arrived at the docks, Roxas entering the shop to rent some time on the boat for the two of them. Roxas brought her over to the boat and climbed in, placing the shopping bags he was still carrying inside before picking Kokoro up from where she stood on the dock and gently placing her next to him in the boat.

"Hey, daddy?" she asked as he brought the boat out further into the lake, the sky now black as it had turned to nighttime.

"Hmm?"

"Why does the sun move in the sky in this world? And why did the sky go from being bright blue earlier to black like it is now?" she questioned, "It was like this in that other world at the beach, too. Is this normal for other worlds?"

"Yeah," he answered, "Our world is special in that the sun always stays in the same spot in the sky, and as such, the brightness is the same throughout the day. In most other worlds, the sun is always rising and setting, making it brighter and darker, warmer and cooler, and so on."

"Wow... I wish our world was like that." she remarked as she looked up at the beauty of the night sky, illuminated by the full moon that reflected onto the lake's water.

Roxas smiled at how fascinated she was by all the differences between the worlds, "Well, the days and nights in these worlds can be beautiful, but I'll never get tired of the twilight and the setting sun of our world."

"This is still really pretty, though." she said, admiring the way the night sky was lit up by the moon and the innumerable dazzling stars spread throughout. "There are so many stars up there..." There weren't many visible stars in Twilight Town, and the few that could be seen were very faint, almost unnoticeable.

"You know, Kokoro," he began as he pointed a finger up to the sky, "Each one of those stars is another world, their light shining from an immeasurable distance away."

She looked at all the stars in the sky, clearer than any she'd ever seen, and couldn't even begin to count them. "Really!?"

"Yeah, all with their own set of quirks that sets them apart and makes them unique. Crazy to think about, isn't it?"

Kokoro just kept on getting blown away by what she was learning about everything that was out there outside of her own little world.

She eventually got a little chilly from the cool nighttime air and decided to move onto Roxas's lap, he noticed this and wrapped his arms around her to provide her with some extra warmth. From out there on the lake, they could also see how pretty the city was when it was all lit up. Roxas and Kokoro continued admiring the beauty of Radiant Garden's nighttime hours together for a while longer, never growing tired of it. Eventually, Roxas decided it was time for them to head home as he brought the boat back into the docks.

Getting out of the boat and back onto the docks, the two walked together in the quiet roads of Radiant Garden, their path being illuminated up by the lunar light of the full moon, as well as the occasional lanterns set up on the side of the streets. Crickets chirped in the background as a cool, gentle breeze blew through the night, adding to the peacefulness of the moment.

Eventually, they found their way back at the fully lit central square and got ready to head back home. Before they left, Kokoro stopped by the flower patches to pick some flowers for her mother just as she had said she would earlier that day. Roxas smiled as she showed a handful of pretty purple flowers to him—Xion was sure to like these.

Roxas summoned his Keyblades and created a corridor of light as he had done earlier, picking up his bags and taking her through the corridor back to their home in Twilight Town.

Walking into Kokoro's room, Roxas helped her take the items out of the shopping bags before being handed her flowers to put in a vase. He went downstairs and found a vase to fill with water, which he then inserted the flowers into and placed on the living room table for Xion to see when she returned from her mission. That had to be any time now; she left in the morning, and according to the clock it was now mid-evening.

Kokoro came down from upstairs and walked up to Roxas, "Daddy? Shouldn't mommy be home by now? She said she'd be back later today."

That was true, usually Xion's missions would done and over with a lot sooner than this. The fact that she still wasn't back was a bit of a cause for concern, but he had to make sure his daughter didn't get too worried about her mother's absence. "Don't worry, she'll be back soon. In the meantime, why don't we do something fun while we wait for her to return home? Something like... baking cookies, maybe? Then when she gets back, we can give her some cookies as a welcome back treat."

"Yeah! That sounds like a good idea!" she agreed, clapping her hands in excitement.

Roxas got out the ingredients he needed and began making the cookies, occasionally letting Kokoro assist with little things like cracking the eggs and stirring the bowl. Once Roxas placed the tray in the oven and turned it on. As he waited for the cookies to finish baking, he thought of something else to do as they waited for Xion. "While we wait, how about we watch a movie?" he suggested to her.

"Sure!" she replied, "Can I pick out the movie?"

He nodded. "Of course." He said before following her over to the living room where she looked through a stack of movies she could watch.

She eventually made her choice and picked out one of the movies. From what Roxas could tell by the cover, it seemed to be an animated movie about a princess living in Twilight Town with a herd of enchanted ponies going on a magical adventure to meet a fair prince living in a far away realm. The movie seemed a little... girly for Roxas's tastes to say the least, but to be fair he was the one who let his daughter decide the movie in the first place. Xion would probably enjoy it, though. If only she were here to watch it.

As he started the movie, his suspicions that it wasn't his kind of movie were pretty quickly confirmed, but he didn't mind. As long as his little girl was enjoying it, he had no complaints. 

Eventually he heard the oven sound off and got up to go fetch the cookies, putting some on a plate, and leaving others in a little plastic bag so that Xion could have some when she got back. He placed the bag next to the flower vase on the table, then sat next to Kokoro and placed the plate between them.

The two continued watching the movie as they ate the cookies, with Kokoro giggling and pointing out what was happening on screen to her father, who was mostly pretending to be interested in the movie. He wasn't even really sure what was going on in the story; most of his thought was directed to either how adorable his daughter looked and how happy she was, or to when Xion might be getting home and how much he missed her. He especially wished that he could at least check up on her and ask her how she was doing and make sure she was okay... It sort of made him wonder how he was ever able to keep himself together when she'd disappear for weeks, sometimes months at a time all that time ago during their first year of life.

The movie eventually ended, with Roxas only being able to remember bits and pieces of the story. Mostly he just remembered Kokoro's giggling and excited reactions to everything, so as far as he was concerned it was a pretty good movie. He noticed her stretching as she let out a big yawn, and decided it was probably about time for her to be getting to bed.

He led her upstairs and made sure she brushed her teeth. Once she finished and changed into her pajamas, he followed her into her room as she climbed into her bed holding the stuffed Dream Eater he had gotten her earlier that day. He tucked her in and gave her a kiss on the cheek before turning off the lights, the room becoming darkened besides the faint twilight shining through the curtains.

Walking out and closing her room's door, he walked over to his and Xion's room and switched into his pajamas. He got into the bed, which felt empty without Xion there with him. He let out a worried sigh; it was the end of the day and Xion had still not returned... Had something gone wrong? No... she was with Axel, and Aqua and King Mickey too, so she was probably still okay. But what if there was some kind of complication? Maybe with the device she brought along? Or...

Wait, what was he thinking? It wasn't like him to get this worried. He'd always have an optimistic attitude no matter how bad things got. His friends could always count on him to remind them that, even if the situation they were in wasn't great, there was always a way to make it better. He had to stay positive!

Just then, he noticed the door opening slightly. Kokoro entered into the room holding her stuffed Dream Eater, looking rather tired. She walked over to him, "Daddy? Could I... sleep with you tonight?"

"Of course you can," he assured her as she gave a weak smile, "But is something the matter? Could you not sleep? Are you feeling okay?"

She climbed onto the bed and crawled up to him. "I'm okay. But... I couldn't sleep." she explained, "I'm worried about mommy. She said she'd be back later today, but it's bedtime and she's still not here. When's she gonna come home?"

"She'll be back soon." he said, determined that what he said was the truth. "She's just working a little late today, that's all. She might not get back while you're still awake, but I promise you she'll be back tomorrow." Roxas looked forward to it himself; waking up to see his beloved's face next to his after being unable to contact her for a day sounded like the best thing ever to him at that moment.

Kokoro's uncertain expression faded away as it was replaced with a calm smile. "You're right. I can't wait to see mommy again tomorrow!"

"Yeah," Roxas felt the same, "Me too." he calmly agreed as he looked into her cute little face. It always amazed him just how strongly she resembled her mother, though it made him wonder if she's what Xion would've looked like as a child. Maybe not completely the same due to her inheriting some of his facial features, but it still interested him. Not that he'd ever know for sure, given that neither he nor Xion ever got to be children, but that just made him all the happier that they had a little one who could experience the childhood that they never got.

A curious look suddenly appeared on Kokoro's face as she looked at her father, "So, what does mommy do for work?" she suddenly asked.

Roxas smiled, eager to answer her question. He had wanted to tell her about her mother's work for a while. "She does a lot of good things for her job, like going to other worlds and making sure everything is okay. If anyone needs help or is hurting, then she always tries her best to help them, and if there are any bad people or monsters, then she stops them before they can hurt anyone." he explained, "Her job requires bravery and kindness, and above all else, a strong heart. It's perfect for someone like her who has all of those things."

Kokoro's face lit up, "Wow!" she said in awe, "That's amazing! I wanna be just like mommy one day!" she declared.

If it was truly her dream to follow in his and Xion's footsteps as a protector of the worlds, then it was his responsibility as a parent to support her as much as he could. "Once you're older, as long as you never lose sight of your dream, then I promise me and your mother will be there every step of the way for you. Until then, just keep being the little Kokoro I know and love." he told her, not being able to hide the grin on his face.

She giggled. "I will!"

Kokoro settled herself next to her father and curled up after covering her body with the blanket. Holding onto her stuffed Dream Eater, she quickly drifted off to sleep.

Roxas smiled upon noticing that she had fallen asleep. "Sweet dreams, my little Kokoro." he whispered faintly before closing his eyes and following her to sleep.

\--------------

Xion let out a sigh of relief as she had finally reached her destination after a rather long journey and a few too many Heartless encounters for her liking. Before her laid a dreary looking beach, the sand a dark greyish-purple and the water lavender, with what looked like a very bright moon shining way out in the distance, reflecting onto the water. There was something almost strangely pretty about this sight, a nice change of pace from the monochrome miasma that she had just spent the last few hours walking through.

She reached into her satchel and pulled out the device, still in its condensed white cube form. She walked over to an open spot of sand and prepared to set up the device.

"Hey Xion, how long does the device take to get working?" Axel inquired, "I'm getting a little sick of this place, so the sooner we can get outta here the better. Plus, I imagine Isa's done reading by now." Apparently Isa got the opportunity to sit down and read whenever Axel wasn't around to disrupt any peace and quiet that he might have.

"It won't take long at all." she assured him as she placed a finger over the device's keypad. "All I have to do is enter these four digits... one... three... one... four..." The device gave out a little ding sound as she entered the correct digits, "Then I just place it on the ground, and it does the rest." She bent over and placed the cube on the ground. Once on the ground, the device automatically anchored itself into the sand and opened the sides of its cuboid structure as its inner contents began expanding upon themselves, soon expanding into a rectangular block about the size of Xion. It was covered with all sorts of buttons and switches, and at its center laid a keyhole.

Xion summoned her Keyblade, still in the form of Roxas's Oathkeeper, "Now all I need to do is insert my Keyblade into this keyhole, and..." she stuck her Keyblade into the keyhole, causing a corridor of light to erupt to the side of the device—well, it wasn't as much of a corridor as it was a big bright door. "...Now we can leave back to the Realm of Light!"

Aqua looked over at Xion, "Thank you, Xion. Now nobody will ever have to be lost in the Realm of Darkness ever again." she said before walking through the door of light.

Axel reached down and took his best friend's hand, "Let's get going, Xion. Roxas must be pretty worried about you." They walked through the door, being followed by King Mickey before the door closed itself.

\--------------

Roxas began to stir as he opened his eyes to the sight of his precious little girl sleeping peacefully next to him. He smiled before giving out a yawn, stretching as he did so. There was something he realized pretty quickly, though; Xion wasn't in bed with him... which meant she still wasn't back. His smile faded a bit when he thought of that. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get himself to wake up a little more as he sat in bed.

He looked over to see Kokoro starting to wake up as well as she slowly opened her eyes. 

Roxas put a hand in her messy black hair, "Good morning, Kokoro." he told her.

She gave out a little yawn. "Good morning, daddy," she replied.

Getting out of bed and putting on his slippers, Roxas headed downstairs to make breakfast, his daughter not far behind him. As Roxas went into the kitchen and grabbed some waffles, Kokoro stood right next to him.

"Is mommy not home yet?" she asked, looking up at him.

Roxas wished he had a different answer, but, "It doesn't look like it." Before he could let that get her down, he quickly followed up, "But I'm sure she'll be back any time now. She probably just had to rest on the way back." He wasn't sure that was actually the case, but luckily that answer seemed to satisfy her.

"Well, okay," she said, "I hope she gets back soon."

"She will, I just know it." Roxas told her, "Until then, let's have some breakfast, shall we?"

She nodded as she went over to the living room to wait for her father to make her a plate, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat on her chair. Roxas came over with two plates for the each of them, hers containing a couple pairs of yummy looking waffles, some orange slices, and a glass of milk.

Roxas looked over to the empty chair where his wife usually sat, making him realize how weird it felt weird eating breakfast without Xion there with him. For sure, he much preferred spending his mornings with the whole family. He slowly picked the food off of his plate, not feeling like eating that much.

Suddenly, the front door began to open as Roxas shot his head up to see who had opened the door. He couldn't contain his smile as he laid his eyes on the woman who stood in the doorway—her hair blacker than a moonless night, contrasting with her light skin tone, her eyes as deep blue as the sky during the last moments of twilight, her pink lips that never needed an ounce of makeup, and her wonderful, beautiful body.

"Xion!" he yelled out as he practically jumped out of his chair. He ran over to where she stood and tackled her in a hug, and would've knocked her off balance if not for how tightly he had embraced her. "Xion... I really missed you." he quietly told her, resting his head on hers. After their respective trips into the Realm of Light and Realm of Darkness, they had finally been reunited in their home in the Realm Between. It had only been a day, but it had certainly felt like a fair bit longer to him.

"R-Roxas..." she managed before returning his embrace and resting her head on his shoulder.

Kokoro ran over and joined in hugging Xion, "I missed you too, mommy!" she said happily, pleased at seeing her mother again.

Xion felt so loved in that moment, yet she also couldn't help but feel a little guilty for all the worry she must have put them through after being gone for so long without them being able to know if she was safe.

"I missed you too..." she told them, remaining locked in the hug. Eventually she pulled back and looked Roxas in the eyes, "How long has it been since I left?" she asked, not particularly excited for the answer.

"Almost a full day." Roxas informed her.

Her expression quickly worsened, "Oh..." she said, her tone sad and quiet, "I'm sorry, I—"

"It's okay, Xion." he cut her off, putting a hand on her shoulder, "We're just happy you're back."

Xion smiled a little, "Thank you, Roxas."

Roxas took her hand, "Is there anything you need? Are you hungry? I could make something for you if you are. Are you tired? We could lay down if you want."

Xion thought about it. Maybe she was a little hungry, and maybe she was a little tired, but all she really wanted at the moment was to spend some more time with her husband and daughter. "I'm fine," she told him, "I was thinking we could do something around town today, but for now I think I'd just like to relax."

"Sure," he replied, taking her over to the living room where he sat her down next to him on the couch.

Xion looked over to the table next to the couch where she saw a vase holding some nice looking purple flowers next to a bag of cookies. She leaned over to look closer, noticing a piece of paper containing a note written in purple crayon, "FOR MOMMY" it read in somewhat crude handwriting. She looked over to Kokoro who was getting up next to her on the couch. "Did you get these for me, sweetie?"

Kokoro nodded eagerly. "Yep! Daddy took me to another world yesterday and we picked these flowers!" she exclaimed, "Then when we got back home we made some cookies and left some for you!"

Xion couldn't help but smile. "Aww, that was very nice of you. Thank you." she said before reaching over to give her daughter a kiss on the cheek, getting a little giggle out of her. Next she looked over at her husband, "And thank you too, Roxas." She gave him a brief kiss on the lips before pulling back to admire the smile on his face.

Kokoro suddenly spoke up, "Mommy, there's something I want to show you; I can use magic now!" she said with glee before walking over to her father and inviting him to stand up, "Okay... Heal!" she said, standing awkwardly afterwards after nothing happened. Her face reddened out of embarrassment as she tried again, "Uh... Heal!", although once again nothing happened. "...Daddy, why isn't it working this time? Last time all sorts of things happened when I said the word."

"Well, last time I was hurt and you wanted me to feel better, so you were able to use the magic to heal me." he explained, "I'm fine now, so it's normal that it wouldn't work."

"Oh..." That sort of made sense to her, "But you believe me, right mommy?" she asked as she looked up at her mother, a bit of a desperate look in her eyes.

Xion gave her a reassuring smile, "Of course I do," she said sincerely before bending over to pick her up and place on her lap, "I'm very proud of you, Kokoro." she told her daughter before hugging her against her chest. Kokoro smiled and hugged her back. "In fact, I think you deserve a little something extra," Xion added, "How about we go and get some ice cream once you get dressed?"

"Okay!" Kokoro happily agreed before running upstairs to her room.

Roxas sat down next to Xion on the couch and pulled out his Gummiphone to show her some of the pictures he had taken in Radiant Garden the day before as she snuggled against his side. He pulled up the recording he took and tried to skip to the part where Kokoro used Cure magic on him, but rather embarrassingly ended up skipping straight to the part where he failed his skateboard trick and fell on the ground. Xion snorted a bit at that—if only she knew how much it hurt, Roxas thought to himself. He watched her awed reaction as she saw their little girl using magic for the first time; clearly she was feeling a lot of what he felt at the time.

"Wow... she's really growing up, isn't she?" Xion pointed out. It was strange—her daughter was still so young and tiny and had so much growing up yet to do, yet it felt so different from what she remembered of her not being able to walk or speak outside of incoherent babbling, and needing to have every little thing done for her... and that wasn't even counting all the coddling and breastfeeding and diaper changing that came with caring for a baby. Yet here little Kokoro was now, starting to grasp the usage of magic; something not even some of her adult friends were capable of.

"She really is," Roxas agreed, "I'm so happy to be able to share this experience of raising her and seeing her grow up with you, Xion. I love you." he said as he stared into his wife's loving eyes, his heart beating faster and faster. Over the years he had only fallen more and more in love with her, and he didn't see that ever changing.

Xion smiled brightly. Roxas deserved to be happy with how brave and kind and loyal and honest and optimistic and caring he always was, and if she could give him that happiness, then she couldn't ask for anything else from herself. "I love you too, Roxas." she said before wrapping her arms around him and capturing his lips in a deep, passionate kiss which he returned in the same manner.

They eventually pulled out of the kiss, staring at each other lovingly. Roxas wanted to tell Xion that he loved her again, but he realized that he just had right before making out with her. He almost went in for another kiss before he noticed Kokoro running into the room, having returned from upstairs.

"I'm ready now!" she declared, having changed into a purple shirt and her dark blue skirt with the starry pattern she had gotten yesterday.

Roxas followed her as she skipped over to the front door, clearly excited to get to eat ice cream at the clock tower. He took Xion's hand and sneaked in one more kiss before heading into the streets of Twilight Town to enjoy some ice cream with his family, satisfied knowing he'd be able to spend the rest of the week like this—just him and the ones he loved most.

**Author's Note:**

> https://pastebin.com/U1y5UQRS  
> Kino Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix  
> Kokoro belongs to Sweetcandy13


End file.
